Cooking apparatus.



R. M. G. PHILLIPS.

COOKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION TILED MAY 7, 1914.

Patented July 28, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

QJVM 77L/WMM R. M. G. PHILLIPS.

COOKING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY '1, 1914.

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Patented July 28, 1914.

3 BHBETFSHEBT l.

R. M. 6- PHILLIPS.

COOKING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATIOH FILED KAY'I, 1914.

Patented July 28, 1914.

9 8HEBTSBHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROSS M. G. PHILLIPS, OF WEST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THEAUTOMATIC sTovE oo., 0F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION.

cooKINe APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 28, 1914.

Application filed May/7, 1914. Serial No. 836,952.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ross M. G. PHILLIPS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vest Haven, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in CookingApparatus {and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the "accompanying drawings and the characters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the same, andv Fig. '4 a broken .detailview in horizontalv section on the line cd of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 a detachedplan view on a larger scale of the laterally movable preheater-carrierof the apparatus. Fig. 6 a detached view of the preheatcr-carrier invertical lonfgitudinal section. Fig. 7 a detached view 0 thepreheater-ca-rrier in front elevation. F ig. 8 a view thereof invertical section on the line cf of Fig. 5. Fi 9 a detached view invertical section of tl e. visual fuel-level indicator. Fig. 10 a similarview of the air release valve. Fig. 11 a detached broken plan view of.the preheatehbowl stripped. 0 all. burner fittings. Fig. 12 a detachedperspective view of the bridge of the visual fuel-level indicator.

My invention relates to an improvement in a cooking apparatus of thetype shown and described in my pending application filed July 20, 1912,Serial No. 710,630,-' in which a food-container having ingress andegress draft-passages, is used in conjunctionwith a preheater adapted toact as a closure for the ingress draft-passage and in which the saidfood-container and preheater are normally spaced apart by spacingmechanism the releasing function of which is automatically controlled.

The object of my present invention is to construct a liquid fuel vaor-burning apparatus of the type described.

With these ends in view, my invention consists in a liquid fuelvapor-burning cooking apparatus having certain details ofconstructionand combinations of parts as will be hereinafter describedand pointed out in the claims.

Since my present invention relates primarily to different features of aslidin preheater-carrier, I will describe the di erent parts thereofbefore describing the other fea-- tures of the typical apparatus.

Incarrying out my invention, I employ a shallow -sheet-metal tray 2having longitudinal side flanges 3 which fit into two parallel guide-wa's it secured to the bottom of the casing 6 w ich 'is sup orted upon legs7 The front wall-of .the sai casing 6-is formed at its lower edge with alarge rectangular opening 8 .through which the tray 2 slides back andforth. The said opening 8 is entire ly closed when the tray 2 is in itsclosed position, by means or a vertical tray-front 9 riveted to theextreme forward end of the tray. The said tray-front 9 is itself formedwith a sight-opening 10 normally closedby a door 11.formed atits lowerend with a hinge 12 and furnished at its upper end with a handle 13.Upon its inner face the door 11 carries a glass 14 in which the flamewill be reflected when the door is in its open posiii on which it isshown by broken lines in The tray 2 forming the preheater-carrier propercarries an elongated; metal bowl 15 formed at its upper edge with ahorizontal flange 16 supporting a sheet metal plate 17 corresponding ingeneral form to the bowl and supporting an insulating-pad 18 cemented toit and made of asbestos or other suitable material. The plate 17 and pad18 are respectively formed with large circular openings 19 and 20concentric with the rounded rear end of the bowl 15. That portion of thebowl lying below these openings constitutes, as it were, thecombustion-chambar 21 of the preheater. Centrally within the saidcombustion-chamber 21 I locate a removable burner 22 of any approvedconstruction and furnished with a removable circular baffle-plate 23.The said burner 22 is mounted upon a burner-nozzle 24 in tom of the bowl15 is formed with a circular flange 28 the parallelends 29 of which areextended radially to meet the adjacent side wall of the bowl 15. Thesaid flange 28 merges into the hubs 27 aforesaid and forms a shallowcircular alcohol-cup 30 having a radial arm 31 over which the extremeinner end 32 of the fuel supply-pipe 33 extends. Within the alcohol-cup30 rise two segmental supporting webs 34, 34, which provide intermediatesupport for the bridge 26 as clearly shown in Fi 6.

In order that the pre eater as a whole may automatically accommodateitself to the bottom 35 of the vertically movable food-container 36 whenthe same is in its heat-conserving or lowered position in which itsingress draft-passage 37 formed in the center ofits bottom 35 is closedby the preheater, the lower face of the bowl 15 is formed with a roundedbearing-lug 38 by which the entire bottom of the bowl is raised justenough above the upper face of the bottom of the tray 2 to permit thebowl to rock upon the said bearing-lug 38 which permits theaccommodation of the plane of the insulating-pad 18 to the plane of thebottom 35 of the food-container if any difference exists between theseplanes when the food-container 36 descends into its lowered position. Arivet 39 passing through the bearing-lug 38 fastens the bowl. 15 to thetray 2. l

The tapering forward end of the bowl 15 forms in effect an air-passage40 supplying abundant air to the combustion-chamber 21 and taking airfrom air-ports 42and 43 respectively formed in the forward ends of theplate 17 and pad 18. In this connection I wish it understood that I donot limit myself to the use in the bowl 15 of the burner of theparticular construction described since other forms of burners mightanswer the purpose.

The burner, whatever its specific construction, has liquid fuel supplied.to it through the pipe 33 which extends forward over the bot-tom of thetray 2,-the pipe being given sufiicient downward pitch from its innerarm' 32 to its outer end to insure its being drained into a liquidfuel-tank 44 suspended from the front end of the tray 2 by means ofstraps 45 the upper ends of whlch are applied to the front-plate 9 of,

the tray. The outer end of. the pipe 33 the said spring-latch betweenthem.

"ually operable plunger 49.

As long as suflicient pressure of air is maintained within the tank 44,the fuel therein will be forced into the burner. To cut off the supplyof fuel to the burner, I employ an air-release valve comprising avalve-body which is fastened to the bottom of the tray 2 close to theforward end of the preheater-bowl in position to be operated by thebottom 35 of the food-container 36 when the same descends into itsclosed position. An air-pipe 51 leads'forward from the valve-body 50through the tray front 9 and is connected with an elbow '52 carried by ashort nipple 53 mounted in the top of the tank 44 and opening into theair space thereof. The said air-escape valve is furnished with a hollowplunger 54 mounted in a threaded gland 55 screwed into the upper end ofthe valve-body 50. At its upper end the plunger 54 is furnished with anabutment-head 56 and formed with a transverse air-outlet port 57. Nearits lowerend the said plunger 54 is formed with a transverse air-inletport 58, while its extreme lower end is closed by a threaded plug 59mounting a cup-shaped valve 60 carrying a washer 61 which co-acts with avalve-seat 62 formed by the lower end of the gland 55. The projectinglower end of the plug 59 forms a support for the upper end of ahelicalspring 63 located in the bottom of the valve-body 50 and exertinga constant effortto lift the plunger into its elevated position in whichits air-inlet port is closed and in which the washer 61 in the cup-valve60 is crowded against the valve-seat62.

For maintaining the air-escape valvein its open position, I employ aspring-latch 64 depending from the abutment-head 56 and bent to form acam-like locking-shoulder 65 co-acting with a locking-pin 66 extendingbetween'two parallel vertical guide-flanges 67 formed upon the body 50and receiving The lower end of the latch 64 is bent to form a circularfin er-piece 68. By reference to Fig. 10, it w1ll be seen that when theplunger 54-is depressed to move the air-inlet port 58 into its openposition. the locking'shoulder 65 will ride over the locking-pin 66 andbe engaged with the lower face thereof so as to lock the air-escapevalve in it's 0 en position, whereby the pressure in the uel tank 44will be reduced to that of the atmospher j ofthe pump 48, until thefinger-piece 68 has been grasped and the spring-latch 6a sprung outwardto release the shoulder 65 tram the pin 66 after which the spring 63will assert itself to lift the plunger 54 and close its inletair-port58.

To notify user of the apparatus when sufficient air-pressure has beendeveloped within the tank 44, I set a thin, slightly concave-convex.disk 69 into a cincular opening '70 formed for its reception in themiddle of the front wall of the tank. The said disk 69 is predeterminedin size and thickness so that when the pnessure in the tank 44 has beenraised to a predetermined number of pounds, the disk will snap outwardwith a neport which notifies the user of the device to stop pumping. Thedisk (59 may now be ignored untii the next time the tank at is to becharged with compressed air when pressurc of the thumb upon the diskforces it to snap inward with a corresponding report.

The disk therefore constitutes an auditory air-pressure signal.

For filling the tank 44 with liquid fuel, I

provide a removable nipple or filler-cap 71 mounting a. needle-valve 72which may be operated for reducing the air pressure in the tank if toohigh.

To indicate to the person filling the tank when the proper level hasbeen reached, I employ a visual fluid-level indicator comprising a glassdome 73 having its lower cdge formed with an outwardly turned flange 74extending under a flange 75 turned inward from the upper end of athreaded nipple 76 mounted in the top of the tank 44, furnished with aknurled edge 77 and receiving a fixed retaining-shell 78 bent inward atits upper end to form a flange 79 constitutin a bearing for a gasket 80upon which the flange 74 of the dome 7 3 rests, the shell 78 beingcrowded into the nipple 76 before being fixed in place therein until theflanges 74, 75 and 79, and the gasket 80 are crowded together. From thelower end of the shell 78 I suspend a concentrically arranged cup 81 bymeans of a transverse bridge 82 formed at each end with a pair of arms83, 84, bent in opposite directions and providing for the attachment ofthe bridge at each end to the shell and t0 the cup. The said bridge 82is formed with a central opening 85 for the reception and guidance of avertically movable stem 86 furnished at its upper end with a ball-signal87 and carrying at its lower end a float 88 and a ball-valve 89, thelatter being located directly below said float and co-acting with a seat90 formed in the bottom of the cup 81 which is also formed with a port91 through which the extreme lower end of the stem 86 projects and whichpermits the cup to both fill and discharge. Under this construction theball-signal 87 does .not gradually rise in the glass dome 73 as thefluid level in the tank 44 gradually rises when the tank is beingcharged. On the contrary, the ball- :sign-al 87 rises suddenly just asthe maximum fluid level is reached. This result is accomplished bypositioning the upper edge of the cup 81 a trifle lower than the maximumfluid level so that just before the maximum fluid level is reached, thefluid will begin to flow into the cup 81 over the upper edge thereof. Assoon as suflicient fluid has thus entered the cup to raise theball-valve 89 from its seat 90, the cup will fill both from the top andbottom, with the result of speedily lifting the float 88 and hence ofthrowing up the ball 87 into the top of the dome 73, thus signaling tothe person filling the tank that the maximum fluid level therein hasbeen reached. As the fluid level in the tank recedes, the float 88 willcorrespondingly fall by the flowage of the fluid in the cup out throughthe port 91 which will not be closed by the valve 90 until practicallyall of the fluid has been drained out of the cup.

The tray 2 is drawn out into its open po- 1 sition for lighting .thepreheater-burner 29.

and pushed back into its closed position to register thepreheater-burncr with the ingress-draft passage 37 in the food-container36, by means of a handle 92 the ends of which pass under the straps 45.For supporting the outer end of the tray when the same is in its openposition, I employ a removable support 93 made from a single piece ofheavy wire the upper ends of which are turned inward at a right anglefor the purpose of being hooked into sockets 94 in the ends of thehandle 92.

Having. now described the movable preheater-carrier, the burner, thefuel-tank and the several appurtenances thereof, I will describe theother features of the typical apparatus.

The double-walled vertically movable foodcontainer 36 already in partdescribed, is provided at its lower end, as shown, with an annularinsulating ring'95 which rests upon the insulating-pad 18 of thepreheater when the food-container is in its closed or lowered position.At its upper end, the said foodcontainer is provided with adouble-walled cover 96 lined with insulating material and provided withhandles 97. and swinging locking-clips 98. The said cover 96 is formedwith a concentric egress draft-passage 99 automatically closed upon thedescent of the food-container by means of a suitable valve 100 suspendedfrom the outer end. of a lever 101 mounted in a bracket 10*2 fastened tothe top of the cover, the said valve being normally held in its elevatedposition by means of a spring 103 located under the lever at a. point infront of its pivot 104. The rear end of the lever 1'01 projects beyondthe rear edge of the cover ln'to a loop 105 formed in the upper end of avalve-operating frame 106 the legs of which are passed downward into therear portion of the casing 5 through the annular topplate 107 thereofand fastened in place by means of a clamp 108 secured to t e inner faceof the rear wall of the said casing.

For holding the food-container 36 in spaced relation to the preheaterduring the heat-charging period, I employ spacingmechanism consisting,as herein shown, of two vertically movable spacing or suspension-bars109 located opposite each other and having their main portions setinward to form vertical guides 110 which assist in keeping thefood-container centered. The said bars 109 are furnished at their upperand lower ends with slots 111 for the reception of guide-pins 112extending inward from the opposite side walls of the casing 5. At theirlower ends, the bars 109 are formed with horizontal suspensi m-arms 113upon which the food-container 36 actually rests. The said bars 109 areelevated for lifting the food-container 36 by means of a lever systemcomprising a horizontally arranged yoke 114 extending forwardly in thecasing 5 and having its respective arms connected by pins 115 to thelower ends of the bars 109 and formed with slots 116 receiving alincdstuds 117 upon which the yoke itself swings. The bowed forward portion.of the yoke is pivotally connected at its center with the lower end ofa lifting-rod 118 extending upward through a perforation in the flat topor plate 107 of the casing 5. The said rod 118 carries a spacingmembcr119 forming at its lower end a spacing-shoultlcr 120. and at its upperend a stopshoulder 121. The projecting upper end of the rod 118 terminates in a handle or grip 122 The fowl-container 36 is latched. as itwere. in spaced relation to the preheater, by means of a bell-cranklatch 1223 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) hung within the front of the casing isupon a stud 121 and having its lower end adapted to be inscrted underthe spacingshoulder of the spacing-mcmber 119. The horizontal upper armof the latch 45 terminates at its outer end in a depending lug 125 whichrests upon a tripping-lever" length of time it is (l* -il1(l to use thepreheater.

126 hung by its inner end upon a stud 121' and entered at its oppositeend into an automatic controlling or timing mechanism 128 which may beof any approved construction such as that shown in my copendingapplicatio Serial No. 782.245. filed Aug. 23, 1912. A spring 129connected with the lever 126. exerts a constant efi'ort to lift it andso swing the latch 123 on its stud 121 for the release of the rod 118,and hence of the suspensionyoke 114, whereby the food-container 36 isreleased or fired and allowed to descend by gravity into itsheat-conserving position in which 'its annular insulating-plate 75 restsupon the insulating pad 18 of the preheater and whereby the preheater ismade to act as a closure and seal for the ingress draft-passage 37 ofthe food-container 36. The said tripping-lever 126 is provided with ahandle 130 projecting forward through a slot 131 formed in the front ofthe casing 5, in position to co-act with the handle 132 of asetting-lever 133 which is located in front of a graduated dial 134applied to the front of the casing. The said lever 133 is formed in itsupper end with a pointer 135 which sweeps over the said dial and ismounted upon the projecting forward end of an arbor 136 constituting amember of the automatic controlling mechanism. The said arbor in turncarries a timing-disk 137 (Fig. 3) having a radial timing-slot 138 whichreceives a timing-pin 139 carried by the said tripping-lever 126 as morefully described in my pending application referred to. By means of thesetting-lever 133 the controlling mechanism 128 is set to at apredetermined time. release the tripping-lever 126 and permit the sameto be lifted by the spring 129 for swinging the latch 123 on its stud124 for releasing the rod 128, and hence the food-container 36.

To forestall. or. as it were, anticipate the action of the automaticcontrolling mechanism 128, as may sometimes be desired for one reason oranother, I' mount a forestalling-pin 140 in the lower arm of the latch1:23 and extend the same forward through a slot 141 in the front of thecasing 5. By manually moving the projecting forward end of this pin 140,the latch 123 may be swung at any time so as to release or fire thefood-container 36 and permit the descent of the same into itsheat-conserving position.

ln using my improved cooking apparatus, the fuel tank 44 is filledthrough t e nipple or cap 71 until the ball-signal 8? suddenly rises inthe dome T3 to indicate that the maximum fluid level has been reached.The subsequent steps in the operationof the apparatus must now be takenin the following predetermined sequence which is necessary in its mainfeatures for the operation of the a pparatus and for safety. In thefirst place, the timing device 128 is set according to the Thefowl-container 36 is then lifted by the handle 12'. into position to besuspended in spaced relation above the preheater by the action of thebell-crank lever 123 which will not function to suspend the containeruntil after the timing device has been so set. the setting of the timingdevice being a condition precedent upon the opera- 69 is now snappedtion of the spacing mechanism for suspending the container. The raisingand suspension of the food-container, releases the preheater, and hencethe preheater-carrier or tray which may now be drawn outward into itsopen osition by means of its handle 92. Alcohol is now poured into theshallow cup 30 and ignited for heating the burner 22, the baflie-plate23 and the inner end 32 of the fuel pipe 33 to the degree required forthe vaporization of the liquid fuel. Just before the alcohol flame goesout, the air-releasevalve is manually closed (having been opened by thelast preceding descent of the food-container 36 into its closedposition) by pulling outward upon its finger-piece 68 which disengagesthe top of the shoulder 65 from the lower face of the pin 66 and permitsthe spring 63 to assert itself in raising the hollow plunger 5 4 intoposition to shut off its air-inlet port 58. After the air-release valvehas been closed, a few strokes of the pump 48 will start the liquid fuelflowing through the pipe 33. By the time this modicum of fuel reachesthe burner 22 it will be vaporized and lighted by the last flickeringsof the alcohol. The signal disk inward by the thumb and the pump 48 isoperated until the disk 69 pops out with a report and signals to stoppumping. It is necessary, as I may here explain, to light the fuel vaporas soon as it begins to generate, since otherwise it would continue toescape during the entire pumping 0 eration and cool 0 the burner. Thetray is now pushed back into its closed position to register thepreheater-burner wit the ingress draft-passage 37 in the lower end ofthe food-container which is now in its elevated position. The burnercontinues to burn until the automatic controlling mechanism operates tofunction the spacing-mechanism to release the food-container which thendescends into its closed position at which time both its inlet passage37and its egress assage 99 are automatically closed and sea ed and theburner extinguished. AS the burner is being extinguished, the container36 descends upon the air-escape valve which it depresses and locks inits open position, permitting the almost instantaneous escape of thecompressed air in thefiuid tank. As the compressed air escapes, any oilthat remains in the burner or pipe 33 is sucked back into the fuel-tankso that there is no chance for the entrance of any smoke or odor intothe food-container after the preheater is extinguished.

1. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movablefood-container having ingress and egress draft-passages, of a preheateradapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, one ofthe said parts being movable with respect to the other, spacingmechanism for holding the said movable part in spaced relation to theother art, means for automatically controlling tlie releasing functionof the said spacing-mechanism, a fuel tank connected with the preheater,and an air-escape valve connected with the said tank and automaticallyopened by the movement of the said movable part to stop the feeding offuel from the tank to the preheater.

2. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movablefood-container having ingress and egress draft-passages of a preheaterada ted to act as a closure for the said ingress raft-passage,spacing-mechanism for holding the food-container above the preheater ins aced relation thereto, means for automatical y controlling thefunction of the spacing-mechanism in re- I wh ch descends upon closingof its said in grass draft-passage, a fuel tank connected with thepreheater, an air-pump for the fuel tank, and an air-escape valveconnected with the tank and automatically opened bythe descent of thefood-container to stop t e feeding of fuel from the tank to thereheater.

3. In a cooking a paratus, tiie combination with. a vertically movablefood-container having ingress and egress draft-passages, of a preheateradapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, one ofthe said arts being movable with respect to the ot er, spacing-mechanismfor holding the said movable part in spaced relation to the other art,means for automati cally controlling the releasing function of the saidspacing-mechanism, a fuel tank connected with the preheater, an air-pumpfor the fuel tank, and an air-escape valve connected with the said tankand automatically opened by the movement of the said movable part tostop the feeding of fuel from the tank to the preheater. I

4. In a cooking a paratus, the combination with a vertica 1y movablefood-container having ingress and egress draft-passages, of a preheateradapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draftassage, one of thesaid parts being movabe with respect to the other, s acing-mechanism forholding the said mova le part in s aced relation to the other part,means or automatically controlling the releasing function of the saidspacing-mechanism, a fuel-tank connected with the preheater, an air-pumpfor the fuel tank, an air-escape valve connected with the said tank andautomatically opened by the movement of the said movable part to stopthe feeding of fuel from the tank to the preheater, and a visualfluidlevel indicator mounted inthe tank.

5. In a cooking ap aratus, the combination with a vertical y movablefood-container having ingress and egress draft-pasleasing the containerthe preheater for the sages, of a preheater adapted to act as a closurefor the, said ingress draft-passage, one of the said parts being movablewith respect to the other, spacing-mechanism for holding the saidmovable part in spaced relation to the other art, means forautomatically controlling t e releasing function of the saidspacing-mechanism, a fuel-tank connected with the preheater, an air-pumpfor the fuel-tank,-an air-pressure signal, an air-escape valve connectedwith the said tank and automatically opened by the movement of the saidmovable part to sto the feeding of fuel from the tank to the preheater,and a visual fluid-level indicator mounted in the tank.

6. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movablefood-container having an ingress and an egress draftpassage, of apreheater forming a closure for the said ingress draft-passage,spacingmechanism for holding the container in spaced relation above thepreheater, means for automatically controllin the releasing function ofthe spacing-mec anism, a laterally movable tray upon which the preheateris mounted, and means applied to the outer end of the tray forsupporting the same in its open positlon.

7. In a cooking a aratus, the combination with a vertical y movablefood-container having an ingress draft-passage and an egressdraft-passage, of a preheater adapted to act as a closure for the saidingress draft-passage, a laterally movable tray' upon which thepreheater is mounted, a fueltank at the outer end of the said tray, anair-escape valve connected with the said tank and operated by thedescent of the food-container for permitting the compressed air toescape from the fuel-tank and stopping the feeding of fuel from the tankto the preheater.

8. In a cooking apparatus,the combination with a vertically movablefood-container formed at its lower end with an ingress draftpassage, ofa preheater adapted to act as a closure for the said ingressdraftpassage, spacing-mechanism for holding the food-container above thepreheater in spaced relation thereto, means for automaticallycontrolling the function of the spacingmechanism in releasing thecontainer, a laterally movable tray carrying the preheater, a fuel-tankat outer end of the said tray, an air-escape valve connected with thefuel tank and automatically opened by the descent of the food-container,an airpump. and a fluid-level indicator and an air-pressure signalconnected with the said tank.

9. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movablefood-container formed at its lower end with an in gress draft-passageand at its upper end with an egress draft-passage, of u preheater and anair-escape valve adapted to be automatically opened and locked in itsopen p0 sition by the descent of the food-container.

10. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movablefood-container formed at its lower end with an ingress draft-passage andat its upper end with an egress draft-passage, of a preheater adapted toact as a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, spacing-mechanismfor holding the food-container above the preheater in spaced relationthereto, means for automatically controlling the function of thespacing-mechanism in releasing the container, means for supplying liquidfuel under air-pressure to the preheater, and an airescape valve forstopping the feeding of the liquid fuel, the said valve beingautomatically opened by the descent of the food-container the lifting ofwhich into s aced relation to the preheater must prece e the closing ofthe said air escape valve.

11. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movablefood-com tainer formed at its lower end with an ingress draft-passageand at its upper end with an egress draft-passage, of a preheater actingas a closure for the said ingress draftpassage, spacing-mechanism forholding the food-container above the preheater in spaced relationthereto, means for automatically controlling the function of thespacingmechanism in releasing the container, a laterally movable trayupon which the preheater is mounted, a fuel tank at the outer end of thesaid tray, an air-pump connected with the said tank, and an air-escapevalve connected with the tank and mounted upon said tray in position tobe automatically opened by the descent of the food container into itsclosed position.

12. In a cooking apparatus, the combination with a vertically movablefood-com tainer formed at its lower end with an ingress draft-passageand at its upper end with an egress draft-passage, of a preheateradapted to act as a closure for the said ingress draft-passage, spacingmechanism for holding the food-container above the preheater in spacedrelation thereto, means for automatically controlling the function ofthe spacing-mechanism in releasing the container, a laterally movabletray upon which the preheater is numnted, a fuel tank at the outer endof the tray, a fuel pipe leading from the tank to the burner of thepreheater, an .r-pump connected with the tank,

an air-escape valve connected with the tank In testimony whereof, I havesigned this and mounted upon the tray in position to be specification inthe presence of two subscrib- 10 opened by the descent of thefood-container, ing witnesses. and means for automatically locking theair pum in its open position, and the lifting of the food-containerbeing a condition prece- Witnesses: dent to the manual unlocking andclosing of M. P. NICHOLS, the said valve. C. L. NEED.

ROSS M. G. PHILLIPS.

